Street Tier
by unfortunateGambler
Summary: Meet John Egbert, A boy who woke up in the Lowas district of Skaia City. He doesn't know how he got there, or why he's wearing a blue shirt with a strange symbol on it. As he stumbles through the city, he meets up with the Street-Tiers, an assortment of kids around his age from multiple different planets who fight the monsters of the city.
1. Chapter 1

(Idea for this story Inspired by Blackoutballad's Street Tier designs on Tumblr. Check them out here: tagged/streettier.)

His name was John Egbert. Yes, that was definitely it. It had to be. There was no way that he could think of being called anything else. He was sixteen years old, and one hundred percent sure of it. The number stood proudly in the nearly empty recesses of his memory, next to a date: April fourteenth. It was undeniable that he loved pranking. That fact could never be lost to him, no matter what, nor how he loved movies. These were all statements that defined John, and ones that were immutably true.

The problem was, there was nothing else. His head was like a bookshelf that had been cleared of all of its cover-bound residents. Yes, there were still volumes of subjects that he could only assume he'd learned in the years past, but not one story book left on the shelf meant for his identity. All that remained was a photo album, and a note which told him the bare minimum of who he was. The album contained an assortment of scattered memories. There was a warm summer's day in a park, a game of catch with a friend, and even a family dinner. However, none of the people had faces or names to define them.

Strangely, John didn't find this scary. On the contrary, he was fascinated by the idea of finding out who he was.

There was no way to tell how long he'd been awake. He had just suddenly started having conscious thoughts and it progressed from there. The first sense to return was touch, and holy shit did he feel horrible. Almost all of the muscles in his body were sore and aching, and it wasn't long before he determined the reason. He was lying on the ground, which was rough and damp, on his back. One of his hands was submerged in a puddle, and the other was being sniffed by some small creature, most likely a rat. He slowly moved them so they were pushing him into a sitting position, leaning against what he hoped was just a wall. The good news was that he felt clothing covering his chest, lower body, and feet, so he didn't have to worry about being naked.

Next came a blast of three senses, two of which he wished would've stayed asleep. The sound of dripping filled the air, of water droplets rolling off of high places and splatting on a surface. The drops echoed off of the metal surface behind him, which he deduced was a dumpster by the awful smell of rotting garbage. It was so thick that he practically gagged on the taste it left in his mouth. His day just got a hell of a lot worse.

With nothing else to give him a sense of his surroundings, he opened his eyes. It was dark, but not so much that he couldn't see. He was in a wide back alley that dead-ended a few yards in front of him. The walls were made of faded bricks covered in spots of mold. Above him was an extended ladder leading to an aged metal fire escape. The buildings on either side of the space rose up to at least six stories, with a few windows and one door for each on the ground level leading into the alley. Probably for taking out the trash or something like that. Speaking of garbage, he turned his body to lean on the wall to his right and confirmed that yes, that was a dumpster he was next to. Now that he wasn't facing the dead end anymore, he could see a small amount of light slipping past the garbage containment unit, presumably from a street lamp. He also found himself face-to-face with a mirror with a large crack running down its center.

In the reflection, he saw himself. He had thick black hair that sat in a mess on his had and deep blue eyes that seemed to shine even in the dim light. His skin was a pale shade and he wore rectangle-shaped glasses. His legs were long and shielded from the wet stone beneath him by a pair of jeans that were just as blue as his eyes. In fact, blue seemed to be the key color for almost his entire wardrobe, save for the yellow bases of his high-top shoes. The shirt he wore was as dark of a blue as possible without it being black and it had a baby-blue design on it. It was two thick curving lines, one on top of the other divided by about and inch of space. The pattern made him think of a cartoony gust of wind.

He felt the gentle, tiny whiskers on his right hand again and looked down to see a black rat. It cautiously sniffed his skin for any signs of food, then lifted its tiny head to gaze at him. He gave a small chuckle.

"Hello, little guy," he said, surprised by his unfamiliarity with the sound of his own voice. So weird. "You wouldn't, by any chance, know where I am, would you?" The rodent's face remained blank for a second before it scurried away. "I'll take that as a no."

He could see no other reason to remain sitting next to a dumpster that smelled like it hadn't been emptied in weeks, so he decided it was time to start moving. Retracting his legs until his knees were pointing up, he set each of his hands firmly on the ground. With a good push, he rocked forward onto his feet and steadied himself. Finally, he extended his legs until he was standing at his full height. His muscles disagreed with the action, still too sore from being on the uncomfortable ground for god knows how long. His first few steps were a little shaky, causing him to hold onto the wall. Eventually, he manage to exit the alley without stumbling like an idiot.

Protruding from the sidewalk a yard away from the opening of the alley was a large metal pole that bent at the top with an orange light at the end. It was one in a million lining the road, but one of the few that weren't broken. The street was four lanes across and extended in both directions for as far as John could see, with bright traffic lights hanging over it at each intersection. Both the asphalt and the sidewalks on either side of it were wide enough for heavy traffic, but there was not a car or soul in sight.

John guessed that this was a residential area by the multitude of apartment buildings around him. He looked into the window of the building on his right to see an old vacancy sign. It looked like it had accumulated a thick layer of dust from the days it spent broadcasting its message to the world.

"I wonder if there's anyone around here at all," he wondered out loud as he began to walk on the left side of the road.

While he strolled along the pavement, he looked up at the sky. It was covered by an inky layer of black clouds that looked like they were ready to pour down rain, but never did. There were also thousands of inexplicable lights dancing beneath them. What were those, anyway? They were too far away from John to see them clearly.

His gazed drifted back down when he caught a change of lighting in his peripheral vision. He had come to an intersection, the traffic lights above it lit with green and not changing any time soon. To his left was a small building amongst the giants, with a line of class facing out into both roads. There was a neon sign above the front door that read "Salamander Diner," and had a moving form of a yellow creature with two legs that blew a big blue bubble over and over again. The windows were blurry, but light still shown through them, so John knew it was open. _Maybe I can persuade someone inside to help me out,_ John thought before opening the door and stepping inside.

The inside was brighter, causing John to squint as he stepped onto the tiled floors. The tiles were like a mural of dark blue islands and black rivers separating them. The walls were painted with more of those yellow creatures that John assumed were supposed to be salamanders. They were farming tiny blue mushrooms, some wearing crumpled hats or cloaks with funny ghost patterns on them. Up against the three outer walls next to the windows were yellow booths with wooden tables. Straight across from John was a long breakfast bar with ten or twelve rotating stools, behind which was a wall dividing the kitchen and eating areas. A giant menu hung above the order station, displaying mushroom smoothies, burgers, fries, and other food items that made John's stomach growl. How long had it been since he'd eaten?

The door must've been attached to some kind of bell in the back, because it only took a few seconds for a girl to come out of the kitchen to greet him. She had long blonde hair smoothed back into a ponytail, light skin, and strange orange eyes. John could only see the top half of her body, the four-foot-high counter cutting the view off at her stomach. She wore a yellow shirt with another one of those salamanders on it and a silver nametag that simply said "Casey." She chewed a piece of light blue gum that she used to blow a huge bubble, giggling when it popped. She looked about a year younger than John.

"Welcome to the Salamander Diner," she said with a cheerful voice. "My name's Casey. What can I do for you?"

"Um, hey," John mumbled awkwardly. "Do you have a bathroom I can use."

Without hesitation, she pointed around the side of the bar. "Right back there. You can't miss it."

After using the toilet and washing his hands, which were probably filthy from the time they'd spent on the ground, he looked in the mirror. He wondered how you ask someone if they know who you are, or where you are, in a normal conversation. Meh, he'd just wing it.

Casey was still there where he had left her, waiting behind the counter. This time, however, she had a sly grin across her pearly white teeth as she chewed. "Did I mention that the bathrooms are for customers only?" she questioned in mock innocence.

John stopped and looked at her in disbelief. "What? But I don't have any money!"

She burst out laughing, clutching her sides as she shook in glee. John was starting to get nervous when she calmed down enough to speak, "Hahaha, Glub.I was just joking, silly! But the look on your face? Priceless!"

John cautiously approached the bar and took a seat on one of the stools, looking at her with a slight smile. "Heh, I guess you're right. That was a good prank." And it was. He was a guy who knew the spirit of pranking well, even though he wasn't sure why.

"So," Casey said, leaning back against the wall. "What are you doing out so late at night?"

John shook his head. "I wish I knew."

Casey seemed to consider his answer for a second, blowing another large bubble with her gum. It popped, and she looked at him with interest. "That's not a really good answer. Nobody just 'goes out' at-" she looked at the clock on the wall. "-two A.M. in LOWAS. It's dangerous, you know?"

_LOWAS?_ The name didn't ring a bell in his head, but that didn't really surprise him. He rubbed his eyes with his palms and sighed. "What's so dangerous? I was walking around out there for half an hour and nothing happened."

"I cannot believe what I am hearing!" she stated, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Didn't your parents tell you about the things that prowl the streets at night? It's something even little kids know about!"

"What? You mean like rabid dogs and gangs?"

"No," a voice said from behind him. "She means monsters."


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Short chapter is short. Next chapter will be longer, I promise, For now, just have this.

John turned around to see a person he hadn't heard enter standing right in front of the door. She was an odd sight, dressed in a cropped orange pleather jacket wit a lighter orange undershirt extending below it. Her jeans were also a darker orange and red shoes that ran halfway up her shins. She had a studded black belt with pockets around her waist, a bandana resting below her chin that had a yellow sun on it, and her hands were covered by fingerless black gloves.

None of that really drew John's attention, though. He was too focused on being stunned by her physical appearance. Her skin was grey, unlike anything he'd ever seen, and her eyes were yellow with cobalt irises. Her left eye seemed to have seven pupils, six small ones around one big one.. Additionally, she had horns sticking up out of her long black hair. _Horns! _The left one pointed upward with a barb extending down, while the other was topped with a crescent moon. They were colored like candy corn, and John could do nothing but stare at her.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" the girl said as she noticed the stunned look on his face.

John didn't reply. He didn't know whether to be interested in or afraid of her. She looked so alien, so different, so-

Instead of waiting for a response, she continued toward the counter and sat down on the stool next to him. "I'll take a grasshopper smoothie," she told Casey. She looked back to John. "You want anything?"

It took a few seconds for him to snap out of his daze and realize that she was talking to him. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked, spinning around to face the her.

She groaned. "Do you want something from the menu, doofus? It's not that hard of a question."

He turned an embarrassed shade of pink as he tried to grasp at words. "Um, uh, maybe some fries?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"Um... an answer, I guess." He felt so stupid. _Get it together, Egbert!_

"Okay, one basket of fries it is, then," the girl said, nodding at Casey. Casey nodded back as she wrote down the orders and slipped into the back to start preparing them.

"The name's Vriska, Vriska Serket," the girl stated. "You got one, human?"

"John Egbert," he replied, forcing himself to calm down. It wasn't until he looked at her again that he saw the toothy grin she was giving him.

"Soooooooo, Egdork," she began, casually flipping her hair over her shoulder. "What brings you to this place so late at night?"

He hung his head. "Like I told the waiter girl, I wish I knew."

"Let me guess, lost your memory, right?"

His expression strayed further into the direction of confusion as he looked up at her again. "Uh, yeah."

"Wake up in a back alley?" she asked, her tone indecipherable.

"Yes..."

"Psh, beeeeeeeen there, done that." She chuckled.

It was then that John reached a new rung on his Confusion Ladder: Bewildered Goldfish. "What do you mean? How do you know all that? Why do-"

"Calm doooooooown, John! I'm just saying that I've been where you are now. It's a real bitch, but you probably already know that," Vriska assured him as their orders arrived. She took a sip from her smoothie and grinned. "And I knew because I'm just that damn awesome."

"That didn't even slightly answer my question!" John exclaimed.

"I said calm down, Egdork! Gog, why do humans have to be so melodramatic? I have an eighth of a mind to knock you out right now, but I was instructed specifically not to unless... well, we won't get into that." She looked down at the basket of food in front of him. "Are you going to eat those or just let my hard-earned money go to waste?"

John sighed and picked up a fry. It didn't seem like this alien girl was going to give him any answers that would make him happy. He would complain further, but the way she casually mentioned knocking him out was more than a little foreboding. She did seem like the kind of person who would do it without a second thought.

Casey, once again behind the counter, blew and popped another bubble with her tongue and spoke to Vriska with interest. "What brings a member of the Street Tier gang to this part of the city?"

"Oh, so you've heard of us," Vriska smirked. "Well, not that it's consort business or anything, but one of our Seers predicted a new arrival in the most dangerous district in town, so they sent me here. I'm sort of a big deal, you know?"

_Street Tier gang? Consort? Seers? _John thought as he listened to them and ate his fries. _I wish I knew what they were talking about._

"Oh!" Casey shouted, sticking a finger out at him. "Would he be the one you're talking about?"

"Definitely, by the symbol on his shirt I'd say he's my target." Vriska looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh, they also said an ogre would be crashing through the front of this joint in 3...2..."

The wall behind John exploded inward.


	3. Chapter 3

John was launched over the counter from the sheer force of the blast. He could feel the explosion with every bone in his body, pushing him through the small distance between his stool and the open ordering station. Unfortunately, his body was in a vertical position when he made it to the opening, causing him to slam upside-down against the wall above and below it. Needless to say, he fell and landed on his face.

That all happened in three seconds. The fourth second was punctuated by a scream of fear. It sounded like Casey's voice, coming from right beside where John landed. He didn't bother to look up, body was now even more sore than when he woke up. Just the thought of moving was enough to make his arms ache. Plus, he could feel something heavy weighing down on his back, so he resolved to just stay still and listen.

A deep, animal-like breathing sound was coming from somewhere on the other side of the bar. Even without seeing what was making it, John could hear the murderous rage coming from it. Accompanying it were light footsteps from creatures that had to be small and high-pitched growls. It sounded like whatever smashed through the front door had brought friends.

"Right on schedule," John heard Vriska say somewhere to his left. Had she avoided the explosion? "A biiiiiiiig Crude Ogre and eight Shale Imps."

John felt whatever was crushing him being lifted, freeing him to move. But, he didn't want to move. He would rather jump into a bottomless pit than get up and see whatever those things were. Someone didn't agree with him, though, and rolled him over onto his back with her foot. John looked up to see Vriska standing beside him, holding up the menu board that had fallen on him.

Her expression was a smug grin as she kicked him in the side. "Get up, Egdork."

"No," he said defiantly.

"Just get up."

"No, I won't do it."

"Yes, you will."

"Make me!"

"Jegus Christ, John! Just get your sorry ass up before I-"

"ROOOAAAR!" The tremendous roar from the other side of the counter interrupted Vriska, followed by a table flipping over it and smashing on the wall. It instilled enough fear in John to make him bolt to his legs in a burst of adrenaline. Apparently, nowhere was safe, and if he was going to die, he might as well meet his death head-on and- oh hello, monster.

The creature that stood on the bar counter was a sight to see. Obsidian black skin, pure white eyes, and sharp teeth that looked like they could cut through anything. It was maybe three feet tall, but looked dangerous enough to rip out every organ in his body. On instinct, John balled his hand into a fist and jabbed it in the face. It let out a yelp before falling off the bar and revealing to him a greater monster.

The beast was so tall that it couldn't fit inside the diner, so it decided to stand guard at the gaping hold in the wall. Its color scheme was the same as the little guys' around him, but that's as far as the similarities went. It was a hulking tower of muscle with two tusks coming from the sides of its mouth, and fists that could, well, knock down a wall, apparently.

"What...the hell...are those?" John asked, backing up to the wall.

Vriska face-palmed. "Oh my gog, were you not listening to me? Those are Shale imps, and that's a Crude Ogre. I literally just said that."

John glanced at her to see that she was completely calm. How? _HOW?! _They were under siege by a Hulk wannabe and his little minions, and she as just taking another sip of her smoothie like it was no big deal?! Even Casey, who he discovered was on his other side, was shaking like a leaf in fear. Was he missing something?

Vriska drew his attention again when she spoke. "Alright, Jonny boy. Time to see what you're made of. Are you ready to fight these goons?" She was now holding a set of dice, eight of them by John's count, and each one had eight sides.

"Are you kidding?" he replied. "I'm finding the back door to this place and getting my ass out of here!"

He turned to run for the kitchen door, but an impressively strong hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Oh no, you're not! I'm not letting you abscond like some dagger-lance flailing pansy. It's either you help me beat the grist out of these weaklings, or I beat it out of you and then out of them. Your choice, Pupa."

To John's surprise, he actually had to think about it. On one hand, he could just let her knock him out and avoid learning the true meaning of the words "Hulk smash." Sure, she could break his bones, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't kill him. On the other hand, there were nine monsters patiently waiting for him to come out and let them end his life. Such polite creatures, though they probably just knew that there was no way for him to possibly escape.

He sighed and stopped resisting. "Okay, Vriska. You win."

"I aaaaaaaalways win, John. You should take note of that fact."

"Just one question."

"What?"

"How? I don't even know _how _to fight."

She groaned and reached into one of her belt pockets. She pulled out a green card with a jagged corner. It had a pixelated image of a hammer in a big light-green box in the center and a smaller box on the bottom with a miniature construction hammer. She handed it to him and tapped the smaller box. Suddenly, a real hammer appeared in John's hand, surprising him.

"That is your Strife Specibus," she explained. "Sorry, but it's the only one I could snag before leaving. You're stuck with Hammerkind."

"But...how..."

"Stop asking questions and hit the stupid imps with it! I'm going after the Ogre." With that said, she hopped over the counter and into the fray.

John watched in awe as the alien girl dashed out of the diner. She easily dodged the imps, even kicking a few out of the way for the hell of it. She was outside within seconds, stopping in front of the Ogre and smirking. With a flick of her wrist, she dropped the dice in her hand, allowing them to clatter to the pavement. Her smile broadened as the last one settled into place. But John didn't see that. All he saw was the dice fall-

-and suddenly erupt into a tornado of fire. Vriska jumped back as the flames exploded out of the dice, engulfing the monster in a vortex of heat. It roared and tried to swing it arms to make the fire stop, but only managed to burn itself. Somehow, Vriska had her dice in hand again and made for another roll. This one resulted in the tiny prisms merging into a large scythe, which she picked up without hesitation.

By then, the tornado had dissipated and the ogre was glaring at her in hatred, it charged her, shoulder out and ready to crush her like an egg. Vriska, on the other hand, casually lifted her bandana to cover her mouth and leaped higher into the air than should've been physically possible. Landing on the behemoth's back, she swung the scythe down with the momentum from her fall and cleanly severed the beast's arm. It howled in pain, blood pouring from its new wound, and tried to reach behind itself and grab her. It failed, though, because Vriska was already running up its back. She used its neck as a spring board and leaped again, this time propelling herself horizontally forward. She brought the scythe over her head with a mighty swing , effectively flipping herself and forcing the tip of the blade up through the Ogre's chin.

Its last roar died with it as the metal cut through its head. Vriska let go of the handle and dropped to the street, landing as gracefully as a ballerina. The ogre collapsed behind her, bleeding all over the asphalt. As she retrieved the scythe, turning it back into the die, she turned to see how John was doing.

John had stopped observing her fight around the time her dice changed the first time. He was alerted by a scream that suddenly came from Casey. When he looked over at her, he was met by the sight of three imps attacking her. She was trying to fend them off with a shattered coffee pot, but it was useless.

John was enraged by the little creatures and, with a burst of courage, ran over to save her. He swung the hammer at the first imp, who was biting her leg, catching it in the forehead with a satisfying crunch. It let go, leaving him to strike the one standing on her stomach. This time, his stroke was upward, and he sent the imp flying into a far wall with strength he didn't even know he had. For the final one, he twisted the weapon around and brought the claw-end down on the it. It pierced the base of its neck, causing it to scream in pain and fall to the side.

He stopped to make sure Casey was okay. She was bleeding from several wounds, but none of them were bad enough to be fatal. "Wait here, okay?" he said in a calm tone.

She nodded slowly, and he stood up again to face the remaining foes. He was high on adrenaline, and killing these things seemed to be the only way to feed it. Bounding over the bar, he caught another imp in the cheek with the hammer. He quickly dodged an airborne one, who'd jumped off one of the tables, and bashed it in the spine to ground it. It all came so naturally, as if he had done this a million times. Swing, dodge, punch, duck, kick, jab. His body moved fluidly of its own accord.

As he crushed the skull of another, he saw that there was only one left. It skirted around the edge of the room, growling and hissing like it was about to strike. Without thinking, John reached out his free hand toward it, palm out. He felt as sudden surge of wind around the diner as he gradually retracted his fingers into a clenched fist. The imp stopped moving and started to scream in agony. Blood started coming out of its mouth and nose until it died on the spot. John didn't know it, but he just killed the imp with air pressure.

He was snapped out of his adrenaline high by the sound of slow clapping. Vriska was walking toward him now, a huge grin on her face.

"Congratulations, John" she said. "You are officially the Heir of Breath."

(Please review. I think I may have cut the fight scene a little short. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't.)


	4. Chapter 4

John walked behind Vriska in silence. He just couldn't think of anything to say or ask. All of the events that transpired just thirty minutes ago were just too shocking for him to wrap his mind around. He kept telling himself that it was impossible, that it was just a dream and he really needed to wake up. But, he didn't know what to believe anymore. The fight was a blur in his mind, but what happened after was clear as day.

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Ago**

Vriska had congratulated him and called him the "Heir of Breath" for some reason, but he was too stunned by the results of her end of the battle. She took down a monster who was more than twice her height! It was lying in a growing pool of its own blood out on the road, executed like it was nothing more than a nuisance. Vriska didn't even have a scratch on her.

After that, the corpses of the ogre and the imps started to glow, and suddenly exploded! However, what came out wasn't organs or blood; it was a bunch of blue and purple things shaped like the Fruit Gushers candy, and some black teardrops that somehow stayed solid. John had slowly approached and touched one of them, and it disappeared. The body of the imp it came from was gone, but it still left a stain.

"Don't worry," Vriska called out, causing him to turn and face her. "It's just grist. You touch it and it gets stored away for you." That's all she had to say before she walked out to collect the grist expelled by her kill.

John didn't have the will to press for more answers and proceeded with gathering all of the grist in the wrecked diner. It was probably useful in some way. Some of it had been launched onto tables or piles of rubble. It wasn't until he went to retrieve some from behind the counter that he remembered Casey.

She was leaning against a cabinet door, broken coffee pot still in hand and still chewing her blue gum. If she had been wearing longer pants instead of denim shorts that went down to her knees, they would've been torn up. As it was, she had a bloody bite mark around her left leg and some deep scratches on the other. Her arms were covered in cuts and bruises, and her eyes told John that it all hurt like hell.

Before anything else, he asked her if she had a first-aid kit. He was told where it was, and in no time found it and was kneeling next to her. After disinfecting all of her wounds and bandaging up her legs, he tried to help her stand. When that proved to be a problem, he opted to carry her on his back. He wouldn't take no for an answer. She was surprisingly light, but that could be attributed to either her being a bit short or him being stronger than he thought he was. With her clinging to him like a child, he walked back around the bar and over to where Vriska was waiting patiently.

"So, what do we do now?" he inquired.

"I'm glad you asked!" she replied, turned her head to look at him. "We're going to- uh, John?"

"What?"

"Why are you carrying a Consort on your back?"

"Well, I wasn't just going to leave her to die!"

"Okaaaaaaaay, whatever. You can take the dead weight with you if you want. Aaaaaaaanyway, you just have to follow me and not worry about the destination. That okay with you?"

"Sure," he replied as she spun on her heel and started down the sidewalk.

* * *

**The Present**

His thoughts were disrupted when he heard Casey's voice talking to him. "I'm sorry, what? I was kinda spacing out," he said.

She blew a bubble, popped it, and giggled. "Oh, it's okay. I was just thanking you for saving me from those imps."

"You're welcome, I guess. To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing, or if I would actually win that fight. The alien girl deserves most of the credit."

"You say that as if you've never seen a troll before," she said, shifting her arms for the hundredth time to keep from sliding down his back.

"Is that what she is?" John questioned. "Never heard of a troll who looked like a human with a skin condition and horns."

She leaned her head forward over his shoulder in an attempt to judge his sincerity. He didn't look like he was lying. "You really do have amnesia, don't you?"

"Yeah," he responded, seeming slightly more cheerful than he should have. "Nothing in my head but the basics. But, I'm confident that I'll remember something, eventually. Anyway, so you said she's a troll. Are they common in this city?"

She shook her head. "Not really. The only ones I've heard of are in the Street Tier gang. Same goes for humans and the two cherubs."

John stopped for a second to give her a puzzled look. "Wait, what do you mean? Are you saying you're not human?"

"This isn't the time to stop and enjoy the scenery, Egdork," Vriska shouted from a few yards away. "Get your ass moving or I'll come back there and _make_ you move!"

He could tell she was serious, so he jogged to catch up with her again. Meanwhile, Casey was replying to his question. "No, not completely," she explained. "I'm a Consort. We're the people who live in the many districts of Sburb, excluding Prospit, Derse, and Skaia. I may look fully human, but I'm actually one-quarter salamander. Consorts of the same species tend to live in the same districts."

Well, that was interesting. At least it explained why Vriska kept calling her a consort. With his confusion slowly receding, John's state of mind progressed from 'what the hell is going on here?' to 'I sort of know some stuff, but a squirrel could probably understand more.'

"That's really awesome!" he exclaimed, adjusting his hold on her bandaged legs and receiving a low hiss of pain from her. "So, do you have any, like, special powers or anything like that?"

"Not that I know of," she said before Vriska stopped in front of them.

She shushed them before either could ask why. They had been slipping through a back alley, kind of like the one John had woken up in, and were at the other end where it met another street. She made him duck behind a few garbage cans, holding his head down and only letting him peek through the crack between them. He felt the ground start to shake, giant vibrations that were short yet violent. Before long, a monster appeared from the left. It was easily three times the size of the ogre from before, with orange skin and one huge eye in the middle of its forehead. Thankfully, that eye wasn't looking at them.

The three of them stayed hidden until the thunderous footsteps had faded into the distance. Vriska motioned for John to get back up and continued out into the road, heading in the opposite direction of the giant.

"What was that?" John asked Casey, who was trembling.

"I, um, think it was a Giclopse," she whispered.

"Okay, then. If it's not too much to ask, are there any other monsters around here besides the ones I've seen?"

She had to think about that for a few minutes. "Well, before tonight, I'd only caught glimpses of imps and ogres. From what I've heard, there are liches, basilisks, and also minions of Typheus himself running around here at night. I usually don't stray far from school, home, and the diner. It looks like we may be going deeper into the dangerous part of Lowas."

"Bingo," Vriska said. "You hit that one right on the nose there, consort. From here until our destination, there will be maaaaaaaany more monsters getting in our way. On my own, I would have no trouble what-so-ever with taking them out. But, I've got you two weaklings here with me, so we'll have to go about this as sneakily as possible."

She wasn't kidding. They spent the next two hours slinking between building and taking cover behind everything ranging from a discarded mattress to heaps of garbage. The creatures they avoided made Casey bury her face in John's neck, and he wished he could do the same. They came in a variety of sizes and colors, but they all had the same razor-sharp teeth and white eyes. They intrigued him just as much as they inspired fear, but he couldn't look at them for long enough or they would spot him.

The buildings around them also changed. They were now beat-up structures, complete with broken, boarded up windows and dilapidated brickwork. Some had minor damages, while others were missing large chunks or even entire walls. Vriska led John through through these holes as shortcuts, sometimes stopoping to grab things and put them in her belt pockets.

They ended up inside a building that looked just like the rest. The only difference was that the back wall was tagged with a graffiti spirograph. It was blue and stood out against the faded bricks. There was a door next to it, which Vriska silently opened and ushered John and Casey through. The inside was baren, save for a collapsed pile of rubble blocking where the front door should've been, and a circular platform in the center of the living room. The platform had a design on it made of a bunch of overlapping triangles and gently hummed.

"Here we are," Vriska stated, gesturing to the platform. "All that's left is for you to step on the transportalizer."

John looked at it, then back at her. "Is it safe?" he asked.

"Uuuuuuuugh! Yes, it is! Now get on it. Hurry up. We're already late as it is."

He hesitantly shuffled toward the device, looking over his shoulder at Casey to get her opinion. She nodded, so he quickly hopped up onto the machine. Just two seconds after his feet were in place, he disappeared in a flash of white light.


	5. Chapter 5

(We get to meet three more trolls!)

"I was wondering when you'd show up," someone said from a short distance away. "Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Vriska?"

When his eyes finally decided to work again, John opened them and came face to face with another troll. Even with the hours he'd spent following Vriska, he was still amazed by this one's exotic appearance. The first thing he noticed was the pair of bright red glasses that blocked out any view of her eyes, and then her razor-sharp teeth. Her black hair was only shoulder length, and her horns stuck out as thin, sharp cones. Green seemed to be her main color of choice, displayed on her long shirt and pants. A white belt was wrapped around her waist, over the shirt, and her shoes were as red as Vriska's. The belt also partially covered a light green design on the lower left of her shirt. It looked like a circle with weird steam coming off of it from three spots.

Before John could take a step back or speak, the troll girl leaned forward and sniffed him. "Wait, you're not Vriska. You smell too pale, and your shirt is more blueberry than her orange creamsicle jacket. Just who are you?"

"Um..." was all John could say as he edged off the transportalizer and to a much more comfortable distance. "John Egbert. Nice to meet you."

Without his body blocking it anymore, the platform lit up in another dazzling display, resulting in Vriska appearing out of thin air. She took one look at John, then at the other troll who'd turned toward her. "Ease up, Terezi. This is just the newbie you guys sent me out to get."

The shorter troll laughed. "I knew that, stupid!" she said, spinning a white cane with a dragon head on it that John hadn't seen her holding before. "I just wanted to mess with him. And who would the one on his back be?"

"Just some stupid consort who got hurt in the fight with the ogre and imps," Vriska replied, earning a "Hey!" from Casey. "This doofus thought it would be noble to not leave her behind."

"The 'stupid consort' has a name, you know!" Casey piped up, glaring at the trolls.

"And we don't care," Vriska snapped.

"Don't be so mean," Terezi said, whacking Vriska's shin with her cane. "We need to treat the wounded with the utmost respect."

"You're just saying that so you can get close to her and taste the red of her blood, Pyrope. You can't fool my Vision Eightfold.

Terezi started laughing again, which made John feel even more nervous. Casey gripped him more tightly as he tried once again to put more distance between himself and the girl. He edged his way around the girls as inconspicuously as possible, which was made easy by the lack of anything in the large room other than the transportalizer. The trolls just continued their banter, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was trying to get away from them.

"What are you doing?" Casey whispered when they'd exited the room.

"Leaving. There has to be at least one sane person around here willing to help you," he answered.

Through the door was a long hallway with aged concrete walls. Most of their surfaces were covered in mold, but some spots had been cleared for chalk drawings. They were really crappy, but also funny in a childish sort of way. One depicted a weird looking guy falling down a flight of stairs. Another had a poorly-sketched outline of a body. The drawings looked like they were made by two different people.

He took a left at the end of the hall, his legs carrying him slowly and cautiously. This section was short and opened up into darkness a few yards ahead of him. Luckily, there was a switch on the wall, which he flipped without hesitation. Lights high above flickered to life, casting white beams of clarity throughout the cavernous space. It was about as long and wide as a football field, but not nearly as roomy. The stone floor was criss-crossed by subway tracks, and much of the space was taken up by subway cars pointing in multiple directions. Some looked to be connected to the walls, acting as doorways into more hallways. It didn't take long for him to realize he was inside one as well, but the seats had been removed and the windows blacked out.

There was a three foot drop down to the floor of the chamber, which meant he had to set Casey down so he could hop out without dropping her. Once she was off of him, he realized just how tired he was from carrying her for so long. His back ached, and he had to stretch out his arms before dropping from the walkway.

"You don't really need to keep carrying me, you know," Casey said as he offered his back to her again.

"Don't worry about it," he responded with a smile. "I see you as a friend, and I wouldn't leave one of my friends behind, or let them go through pain when they're injured. You just have to deal with it."

With her in place once again, John continued on into the forest of subway cars. They came in a variety of lengths, and every one had its windows blacked out. Some that he came across had symbols painted on them. He recognized a few as zodiac signs symbols in varying colors, and even a few cartoony icons; a broken record, a green skull, and a blue wolf's head were a few of the ones he found interesting.

After five minutes of walking through the maze of metal, he finally found something that looked useful. It was one of the larger cars and wasn't positioned on any of the tracks. It leaned up against the far left wall, some of it e en seeming to be imbedded in the stone, and had a pair of sliding doors facing him with a light shining through the glass. What made John happy to see it was the red plus on the side that usually indicated a medical area. He hoped he was right as he walked up to the doors.

To his surprise, they glided open with an electronic whirring sound, letting out the bright light contained within, Upon stepping though, he saw that it was bigger on the inside than the outside. The first few feet across were just the subway car, but further than that was an extended area carved into the concrete. It had three beds in the back, all of which had pure white sheets. Spread out around was various medical equipment and supplies. There were counters with scalpels and bandages, half-open cabinets containing medicine bottles that were placed high on walls, and a few short chairs spread out. It looked like John was right.

It wasn't completely void of people, to his joy. The first one was a tall, slender girl with elegant horns that slightly curve up, one of which was barbed at the end. Short hair that was the same black that John was starting to see as a normal thing for trolls, two small fangs that stuck out over her black lips, and jade green eyes with thick eyelashes. Her fashion sense was oddly stylish, shown by the black tank-top she wore over a loose grey collared shirt. Her pants were dark grey, complimented by her white belt and green shoes. The symbol over her chest was a white spiral with six spinning arms. She was bandaging the arm of another troll who sat on the edge of the middle bed.

The other troll in question was a guy, which John thanked god for since the only people he'd seen since waking up were girls. He looked to be a little shorter than John, but also had enough attitude in him to compensate for it. He kept complaining while thee bandage was being wrapped, flashing his sharp teeth and narrowing his red eyes. His shirt was brown with a red design on it that made it look like he was bleeding cartoony blood, and only one sleeve of his red undershirt was extended to his wrist. His jeans were similarly brown, a red stripe running down the side of the left leg, and his shoes were as black as his hair. His horns weren't clearly visible, more like little nubs in his mess of hair.

He was in the middle of a rant when John entered. "-and why the fuck wouldn't I? It wasn't like there was anyone who was supposed to back me up tonight! Oh wait, there was! But she had to fucking stay and wait for the shit-faced new arrival who Lalonde predicted would show up! Am I the only one who thinks in this hell hole? Tell me I'm not, Kanaya."

The girl troll smiled. "No, Karkat. Everyone was just excited about meeting someone new, and a human, nonetheless. There wer eonly seven of them and now..." her voice trailed off as she turned to look at whoever had entered. "...eight."

Karkatdid the same and, upon seeing John, broke out into an angry glare. "Who the fuck are you?" he demanded.

"Um, hi," John said nervously. "Do you guys think you can help me?"

"Why the fuck would we just suddenly help some random consort who wandered into our-"

"Karkat," Kanaya interrupted.

"What?"

"Look at his shirt."

The angry troll focused on the symbol on John's chest. Once he recognized it, he let out a groan. "Fuuuuuuck! This is the asshole we've been waiting for? He looks like a complete dipshit! Why couldn't we get someone with an actual intimidating air, instead of this dumbass?"

"Karkat, be nice," Kanaya told him. "I'm sure he's not so bad."

"Not to interrupt you guys or anything," John interjected. "but my friend here needs some medical attention. I tried to patch her up as best as I could, but I'm no expert on the treatment of injuries. Can I please have some help?"

"Get in line, nook sucker," Karkat growled. "I was here first, and my life's more important than that of some stupid consort."

"Why does everyone keep calling me stupid?!" Casey shouted in frustration. "I'm not stupid, and I have a name, asshole!"

"Don't give a fuck." He returned to focusing on the red stains that ere showing through the bandages. John imagined a cartoonish stream of smoke coming off the troll's head and chuckled to himself.

"You can put her on one of the other beds," Kanaya stated as she continued to wrap the angry boy's arm.

John sauntered over to the right mattress and turned around to set Casey on it. Once again, the moment her weight was off of him he felt an aching pain in his spine. He sat next to her, her legs dangling inches above the floor while his were flat. They only had to wait another three or four minutes before the trolls had finished, after which Karkat glared at them one last time and stomped out of the room.

"I hope you will excuse Karkat's vulgar mannerisms," Kanaya said as she approached them. "He doesn't really have any sense of restraint when it comes to his anger. I assure you that not all trolls are so foul-tempered."

John laughed and stood up, stepping out of the way so she could look at Casey. "It's okay. I thought it was kind of funny, actually. Especially the way his face just kept getting angrier."

Kanaya looked a little surprised by his statement, before inspecting the wrapped leg. "Not many people would agree with you on that. I myself tolerate it and try to calm him down when I can. This bandage needs to be changed." She started to unwind it. 'Could you both please tell me your names so I can refer to you as such?"

"John Egbert."

"Casey," the consort replied. "At least you're polite enough to care. What's that guy's deal?"

Kanaya sighed as she took the last of the bloody cloth off. "To be honest, I don't have a clue. He's been enraged like that since the moment he showed up in Sburb, from what I hear. There are very few things that can calm him down, and finding one is as rare as getting struck by lightning. Hm... these external wounds seem to have mostly scabbed over, but by the way you're reacting to moving it, it appears that the bone is broken. I think it would be safe for you to stay off this leg for a while and-"

She was interrupted by the swooshing of the doors and Vriska strolling in with her hands in her pockets, thumbs out. "Hey, Fussy Fangs! Have you seen a human run by here or- Hey! There you are! "She shouted, walking over to John and jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "When did I ever say you could go ahead of me and leave me behind, Egdork?"

"Um...never," John replied.

"Exactly! It was my job to bring you through this place as your guide, and you made me look like a chump who doesn't know how to follow her orders. Is that what you want, John? Do you want me to look like a chump and get in trouble with our leader?"

"No," he said, looking at the floor.

"Well, here's how you're going to make it up to me," she grinned, grabbing his arm. "You're going to leave your consort here and let me take you to the common room where everyone is waiting, and tell them how amazing and helpful I was."

He looked to Casey, who he wasn't so sure he wanted to abandon. She waved him off. "Go on. I'm fine here."

With nothing else really holding him back, he allowed the troll to drag him out of the subway car.


End file.
